


Arsonist's Lullaby

by kryptononon



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Evil, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, dont say i didnt warn you, i have no idea how to tag this, shit gets dark fast, the angst is strong with this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 03:03:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21421132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kryptononon/pseuds/kryptononon
Summary: "What is your interest? Are you interested in density, gravity, things that manipulate the relationship between objects?""Or are you more interested in the bending of fate, destiny?"(or: the au where the nein didn't meet, and they have all gone down much different paths)
Relationships: The Mighty Nein & The Mighty Nein
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Arsonist's Lullaby

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: MINOR MENTIONS OF A PANIC ATTACK <"Get rid of the body,"...thinly-veiled anger.>
> 
> i had this idea come to me while i was in the shower and it bothered me to not write it, so here it is! in all of its unedited glory.

_Dunamancy. A school of magic, limited in number, but not limited in strength. Bending of fates and destinies, gleaning into alternative futures and pasts, into nightmares and dreams. Further study has yet to be conducted to determine the strength and clarity of these glimpses, but a group called The Mighty Nein, and a certain wizard named Caleb Widogast has offered up their services and allowed us to study the effects of dunamancy under a controlled environment. Their prior glimpses into the Luxon, though unauthorised, has also served us well, leaving dunamantic trails for us to follow and glean into. We, the Kryn, have the full consent of the Nein to conduct studies, on account of a stable payment of two thousand gold pieces made to them periodically._

_I, Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, have first decided to look into the realms of possibility around Caleb Widogast. All personal emotions aside, he seems to be a worthy student of Dunamancy. Private (and classified), tutelage of dunamantic magic has proved successful in the wizard's hand. He is a person of interest. All new knowledge found regarding Widogast will be kept classified, and will not impede future judgement._

* * *

When Caleb Widogast was a child, he wasn't Caleb Widogast. He was Bren Aldric Ermendrud, the only son of the humble Ermendrud family. When Bren was a child, he usually spent most of his winter mornings staring into the open flames of his family's fireplace, with a tabby cat in his lap, his parents always close behind.

However, Bren is not a child anymore, but a grown man, three decades into his human life. A comfortable smile graces his features, but behind his thin veil of charisma was a being of fear and the subject of children's nightmares. Adorned with his red robes, he was the Cerberus Assembly's best-kept secret, and their most lethal weapon, an assassin that bore the dreadful weapon of fire and the utter wrath of the Dwendalian Empire. It would be a mistake to assume that he works alone, with a well-muscled man and a slight woman flanking him wherever he went, their combined might a sight to behold.

The night of Bren's final test was not unlike any other night, the glow bugs of the Zemni Fields illuminating the surroundings as the dull thud of a horsecart against the door of the Ermendrud household reverberated through the air. Flames erupt from Bren's hand as he hurled the ball of fire towards the once humble home, the glow bugs' light soon drowned out to the sickly orange glow of fire and death, screams emanating from it. Something inside Bren told him to think twice, to _listen, _but he doesn't. Instead, he pridefully returns to Trent, where he and his partners were named Vollstreckers, and his life has since been that, years of torturing traitors and killing deserters, with naught a day to rest. His flame is relentless and unforgiving, and the ache within his soul has always been just that, a dull throb, a negligible bruise.

On this day, Bren swings open a rusty dungeon door, its hinges creaking as the prisoner held within it rattled their chains, ragged breaths tumbling out of their mouth. A globule of light follows the wizard into the chamber, giving his surroundings an eerie glow as he studied his quarry.

Hunched over with a hood over their head, Bren laughs dryly as he took in the greyish blue vestiges of the Cobalt Soul Expositors, ripping the hood off of their head, revealing elvish features framed by a bald head, sharp eyes staring right into Bren, trying to gnaw and claw her way into his gaze, trying to intimidate him, but it fails. With a tight-lipped smile, Bren releases his hold on the elf, taking a step back as he retrieved a piece of parchment from a Crownsguard, reading off of it.

"Expositor Dairon of the Cobalt Soul. Lovely title, _ja?_ But I'm afraid you know too much." Bren beckons a cleric in, as the half-elf woman casts a spell over all of them, the shimmering silver energy dissipating into the surroundings soon after being cast. The Scourger smiles at the Expositor, who continues to glare at him.

"Well, I know that you are quite aware of a _Zone of Truth_ spell that is cast over us right now, so I would spill all of the information that I learnt if I were you, Expositor."

The elven woman shifts in her restraints, uncomfortable and hyperaware of the situation that they were in, as Bren circled her, his globule of light following as it illuminates the old wounds and dried up blood on her cloak.

"Let us start easy, _ja?_ Do you have any students that you share your knowledge with? A disciple, perhaps?" Another globule of light drifts in from outside the cell, flying close to the Expositor's face, nearly blinding her as they squint against it, trying to find their bearings. The quiet doesn't last, however, as a pained scream erupts from the monk, Bren pressing a glowing finger into their back, pulling away as the area around it was singed, the fabric smoking slightly.

"No. No, I don't have a student." The Expositor admits, a grim expression of acceptance drawn on their face as it hung from their neck, her chains pulled taut.

"Ah. Interesting. Now tell me, Expositor Dairon, what do you know of the Cerberus Assembly? What information have you intended to bring to your superiors before my colleagues so discreetly stopped you?" Bren said, his voice relaxed and almost emotionless.

"Everything." Dairon answers, hearing a telltale crackle from behind them. "Everything from your unscrupulous practices to your assassinations of high-profile citizens, both in and out of the Empire."

"Anything more, Expositor?" Bren whispers, his voice barely louder than that of the four crackling rays of fire swirling around in his palm.

"I know of you, and of your parents, Bren Aldric Ermendrud," Dairon said, her voice resigned but triumphant.

Something within Bren snaps. The screams of his parents bubble to the surface again but are quashed as soon as they appear, as Bren growls, releasing the four scorching rays of fire, three of them hitting the Expositor square in the back, while one careens into the nearby cobblestone wall, illuminating it before fading out. The elf that was chained in front of Bren goes limp, their body charred and almost unrecognisable as the chains gave a final squeak as the body hung freely, the stench of burnt flesh filling the air. Burning the parchment that he was holding on to, Bren lets go of it as it drifted towards the stone ground, 'Expositor' being the only word left intact.

"Get rid of the body," Bren said coldly, marching past a Crownsguard who nodded, his heavy footsteps sounding off the walls as he turns a corner suddenly, breath erratic and unsteady. Looking into the flames dancing on his fingertips, Bren's breathing evens out, his panic soon fading away as he returns to his cold, emotionless state, gracing his face once again with a tight-lipped smile and thinly-veiled anger.

* * *

_This is interesting, to say the least. As an assurance, this information is kept under lock and key, only accessible by me, Shadowhand Essek. The next subject ought to be more or less as intriguing as this... Bren._

_End transcript._

**Author's Note:**

> i think that took a rather dark turn.
> 
> comments and kudos are always appreciated here, even if it's a string of nonsense!
> 
> come holler at me @ham-ham-ham-shark on tumblr!


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